A Proper View of Happiness Is More Important
Buddhism does not advocate that we should put aside all of our worldly pursuits. It does, however, discourage too much competition or too much vanity in our life. Instead, it suggests that we should use reasonable and righteous wisdom to face the realities of our lives.
The Buddhist view of happiness describes how to live a happy life. I don’t know how European countries think about happiness, but I do know that these days, many people in Mainland China are desperately pursuing it, but most of them fail to achieve their goal and end up experiencing a lot of suffering. They are tortured by various kinds of pressure such as purchasing a car or a house, paying for medical bills or endowment insurance, etc. Some are suffering from having to face up to such daily predicaments, as disagreement in their marriages or families, bad interpersonal relationships, the feeling that they lack professional abilities, along with the competition with others for better status or for some other form of vanity.
Given this situation, Buddhism does not advocate that we should put all of our worldly pursuits aside, although it does discourage too much competition or vanity in our life. Instead, we should use reasoning and moral wisdom to come to terms with our lives. Among the Buddhists I have met, in the past many of them were caught up in the struggle for existence and were suffered greatly from feelings of frustration in their relationships with family members and others. However, after having studied Buddhism, they now feel true happiness in their hearts. You could say that though Buddhists also suffer, they can deal with it without much difficulty. This is due to the practice of the Buddhist view of happiness. This kind of happiness has nothing to do with money. Both the rich and the poor can obtain it as it is available to every person.
